The Irregular at Magic High School: Everyone Loves My Brother?!

Despite the sudden scheduling, only about half the students filled the auditorium for the debate. Scanning the crowd, Suzune sighed with a wry joke, clearly unprepared for such low turnout.

"It seems everyone's quite free. Should I suggest adding more to the curriculum?"

Mari, forcing a smile, replied, "Ichihara, joking's fine, but that doesn't sound like one."

Mari hadn't expected this many attendees either.

"Onii-sama, I don't see Mibu-senpai," Miyuki noted.

"Maybe she's on standby elsewhere," Tatsuya said, narrowing his eyes at the distance. "Or…"

"Tatsuya-kun?" Mari asked, puzzled by his gaze.

"But it's true," Suzune added. "Only half the pre-checked members are here. Like Tatsuya-kun suspects, the rest might be waiting somewhere else."

"The force-it-through crew, huh?" Tatsuya mused. "Interesting."

"Committee Head, don't forget your position," Suzune warned.

"…I know," Mari muttered, pouting briefly.

"Striking first is a bad move, right?" Tatsuya asked.

"It sounds nice as 'self-defense,' but we can't act unless they do," Suzune said.

"It's starting," Miyuki announced.

At her words, Mari and Tatsuya fell silent. Mayumi had insisted she could handle the stage alone, so they stayed in the wings, though Mari, deep down, likely wanted to be up there.

"As expected, Mayumi's dominating," Tatsuya said.

"They've got no solid arguments," Suzune replied. "The reformists lack clear data."

Mayumi used precise graphs and tables showing budget allocations and facility usage times, while the reformists had nothing concrete. It wasn't even a debate, but Mayumi seemed to have something to say.

"I don't think the current system's perfect," she declared. "As you know, student council officers can only be Course 1 students, which creates a form of discrimination. During my term, I want to work toward abolishing this."

"Hmph…" Mari huffed, unimpressed. Apparently, she wasn't thrilled that Mayumi hadn't consulted her. They call each other bad friends, but Tatsuya, watching Mari, thought she cared more than she let on. That relaxed mood vanished quickly.

"What's that!?" Mari exclaimed.

"Looks like they're resorting to force," Tatsuya said.

"What!?" Mari gasped.

A deafening crash echoed as the auditorium doors burst open. Armed men, clearly not students, stormed in.

"Discipline Committee, restrain the marked targets immediately!" Mari ordered.

As she issued commands, Mari stripped the oxygen from the intruders' masks. Whether they'd prepared for poison gas or not, the men collapsed, gasping from oxygen deprivation.

"Is that it?" Mari asked.

"No, one more," Tatsuya said, glancing at the window.

As he predicted, a grenade flew in. Before it hit the floor, Tatsuya caught it, swiftly decomposing it out of sight.

"Tatsuya-kun, suspicious figures were spotted at the practical skills building," Mari said. "I'll calm things here and follow. Go ahead."

"Understood," Tatsuya replied.

"Onii-sama, I'm coming with you!" Miyuki declared.

Tatsuya was already planning to head there, but following a superior's orders made things smoother later. So, he set off for the practical skills building.

Earlier, before the attack, the biathlon club was practicing at the training grounds.

"We didn't need to go to the debate, right?" Honoka asked.

"Listening to complaints is a waste," Shizuku replied. "Plus, the captain's super fired up today, so we wouldn't have gone anyway."

With other clubs at the debate, the biathlon club had the grounds to themselves. The captain was pushing hard, so no one from the team attended the debate.

"Captain, there's smoke rising from the practical skills building!" a member shouted.

A loud noise accompanied the smoke, and the members panicked. The captain, though shaken, tried to stay calm and assess the situation.

"Listen calmly," she said. "The academy's under attack by terrorists."

As she spoke, armed terrorists appeared before Honoka and the others. They had CADs temporarily, but could ordinary high school girls stay composed when faced with a knife attack? Of course not.

Honoka froze, targeted by a terrorist. Shizuku snapped out of her stupor but couldn't move fast enough to help. Both were in danger—moving recklessly could get them both killed.

"Stop!" a voice commanded.

"Out of the way!" the terrorist snarled.

The attackers were taken down by two schoolmates heading to the practical skills building.

"Miyuki! Tatsuya-san!" Honoka cried.

"Are you both okay?" Tatsuya asked.

"I'm fine… but I couldn't do anything," Honoka said.

Shizuku, head bowed, regretted her inaction. Seeing her, Honoka's mood sank too.

"No need to dwell," Tatsuya said. "Experience matters in these situations. It's normal for high schoolers like you two to freeze."

"Your brother's right," Miyuki added. "Not acting rashly shows you made calm judgments."

Their words didn't reach the disheartened pair. Tatsuya glanced at Miyuki, who nodded reluctantly.

"Cheer up," Tatsuya said. "Be grateful you're safe."

Stroking their heads, he emphasized results over process. They were safe, and that's what mattered. Neither expected the head pats, but Tatsuya's usual gentle touch with Miyuki felt soothing, and Shizuku leaned into it, eyes softening.

"They seem okay," Tatsuya said. "Miyuki, let's move."

"Yes!" she replied.

Sensing their recovery, Tatsuya stopped and headed to the practical skills building.

"Those two were amazing," Honoka said.

"That's Miyuki Shiba, this year's freshman rep, and Tatsuya Shiba, the rumored first Course 2 Discipline Committee member, right?" Shizuku said. "They seemed so… seasoned."

They could tell the siblings were experienced, but where they'd gained that experience remained a mystery…

Note: Normally, Hattori handles the grenade and Morisaki takes the training grounds, but in this work, Tatsuya does both… Poor Morisaki's spotlight might be a while off.